Who One Is

Preface: Transition from Book 1 and Prologue to Book 2Chapter I: Assenting to My Death and that of the Other §1. My Death §2. Inherent Obstacles to the Real Assent to My Mortality §3. Death as Danger and Destiny §4. The Meaning of the Annihilation of an Individual Essence §5. The Secret of Death §6. Ghosts, Corpses, and Homer on the Secret of DeathChapter II. Transcendental Attitude and the Mystery of Death §1. The Mystery of Death and Ipseity §2. Transcendental Attitude and the Mystery of "My Death" §3. "My Death" and the Prospective Retrospection of "My Life" §4. "My Death" as a Gathering Experience §5. Transcendental Phenomenological Reflection on the Realization of "My Death" §6. The Question of the Appropriateness of the Transcendental Attitude in the Realization of "My Death" §7. Philosophy as Theoretic Analysis and as Preparation for DeathChapter III: Existenz, Conscience, and the Transcendental I §1. Existenz as a Third-Person Reference to First-Person Experience §2. Limit-Situations and Existenz §3. Conscience and Ought §4. The Problem of the Pure Conscience§5. Conscience and the Center of the I§6. Conscience, Existenz, and the Transcendental I§7. Excursus: "I myself" and my Daimonion§8. Excursus: The Illumination of Existenz and the Proustian-Stoic "Cataleptic Impression"Chapter IV: Ipseity and Teleology§1. Freedom to Do and Not to Do What Must Be Done§2. The Self-Inadequation of the Person§3. Position-Taking Acts as the Medium of Personhood§4. Self-Identifying Acts and the Moral Person§5. Ipseity and Freedom§6.Summary: Teleology of Personal Being§7. A Sense in Which Who One Is Equates With What Sort of Person One Is§8. The Sort of Person One Is and Freedom§9. Who One Is and One's StoryChapter V: The Calling of Existenz§1. The Ideal True Self and the Metaphor of Vocation§2. Truths of Will§3. Love and Existenz§4. Existenz, Love, and Communication§5. Evidence for a Unique Calling: Husserl's Example§6. The Calling as Limit-Situation§7. The Ontological End

James G. Hart (b. 1936) did a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago after research in Munich on Hedwig Conrad Martius. He taught at Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) from 1971-2001 in the Department of Religious Studies. His writings have been primarily in the area of phenomenology; his teaching was primarily in the philosophy of religion and peace studies. Since retirement he has spent his energy on philosophy and on reform of the criminal justice system.

From the reviews:"James G. Hart's ... presents the results of several decades of research on self- and personhood, combining transcendental phenomenology and existential philosophy. ... focuses on the core of the personal 'I.' Hart calls this core Existenz. ... Hart has undoubtedly given us a thought-provoking study that enriches many ongoing debates and deserves increasing scholarly attention.Its two volumes belong to the most impressive, comprehensive, and innovative works in this field. I appreciate the breadth and insight of this work and heartily recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn more about who one is ... ." (Claudia Welz, Philosophy Today, 2010)" In this large two-volume book, James Hart offers the reader an insightful and comprehensive treatment of the perplexing manner in which we, each of us, are aware of our own selves. The book is comprehensive in two senses: in regard to the topics treated, and in regard to the authorities invoked. (...) His book could serve as a reference work for someone who wished to explore this topic and wanted to know how it has been treated in philosophical and theological traditions other than his own." (Robert Sokolowski, School of Philosophy, Catholic University of America)